Counting the Cost: Not always Money

Most of us understand counting the cost in terms of money. How much is something gonna cost me in cash? My post yesterday got me thinking about how I've counted the cost in different ways over the years as I've simplified my like. Counting the cost in terms of TIME and ENERGY. Everything we bring into our homes takes our precious time and energy to take care of. From the littlest thing to the biggest. I'll give some examples from my life to help illustrate the concept. Let me first restate again that everything I state is simply a personal choice in how I decided to simplify my life and you may take your own path in counting your own costs.

Linens- About 7 years ago....I went to all white linens. They all match and if I need more towels or sheets I simply add to the stack. I have replaced bottom sheets only as the tops don't wear out near as fast....since I use no patterns in the sheets I just buy the fitted sheet and it matches! Laundry is so much more simplified as whites can all be washed together. You may bore with white....but I love that it matches everything and I use color in accessories. Plus if anything happens.....bleach is my friend and has saved the day many times.
Throw rugs- I used to LOVE them. At every door, kitchen, dining room, bed rooms. I loved the layered look and still do. Now I layer elsewhere besides the floor....with pillows, fabric and blankets. I was spending so much TIME shaking, washing and moving the rugs to clean and vacuum. The cost of my time and energy was too high. I rolled them up and donated them to Goodwill. The only rug I now use is 1 in my bathroom right by the shower to prevent slips. My floors are bare and vacuuming is a breeze now. I will never go back. My back thanks me. I eliminated 2 loads of laundry and about 2 hours a week extra work to wash and move rugs. I have not noticed any increase in dirt in the house from not having a rug by the entry way doors....it seems the same as with rugs.
Curtains- I mentioned this one yesterday. I used to LOVE the look of layers and layers of lace curtains. I still do.....but the work of getting out the ladder to get them down and wash them was getting to me. I could not vacuum the dust off them because they would get stuck down the hose as they were a dainty fabric. So I would take them down to fluff and dust them in the drier. Ugh....such work. I decided to move to mini blinds and a simple sturdy fabric topper. This has worked out much better for me. I now just use the brush attachment to my vacuum and dust the whole lot....no ladder involved as my vacuum brush has an extender piece that can reach.
Couches- I used to have a beautiful used navy blue cloth couch that my brother gifted me. That thing was so pretty..but my little sweet dog has piles of white hair that stuck tight to the fabric. Ugh .....what a chore to clean! I am not kidding you...it always looked hairy and was HARD to clean! When it came time to replace that couch....I thought really hard about it. I counted the cost of my time and energy. I went with a fake leather type material. No hair troubles any more....no vacuuming the cloth couch any more. Sigh....of...relief. I can simply use my swiffer if anything settles on the couch. Freedom.
Pets- Think LONG and HARD before adding a pet to your home. We have a dog and cat...and various other little critters. Turtle, hamsters....and one hedgehog. They all take a substantial amount of time for care and honestly....money. For food and medical care. Flea meds are expensive each month...but not as expensive as getting fleas...LOL! Plus I'd say the number one source of plain old dirt on my floors right now is my dog. In and out to potty multiple times a day brings in the dirt. I LOVE my pets and this is one example where I did consider the cost....in time , energy and money.....and this time it was worth it! (But secretly I do think this will be my last dog and cat. If nothing happens...they both should be here till around the time all my kids will be done with high school and moving on in life....I will be in my 50's then and strongly feel right now that I will want the freedom from pets at that time. But we'll see!)
So count the deeper cost to the things you add to your life and do NOT be afraid to change anything that isn't working out for you!

Have a wonderful week!!

Use What you have: REVAMP

For a while now I have wanted one of these....Not the TV but the stand. The $295 new price tag has stopped me...up till now. I decided to chop down my 90's box entertainment center....the bottom looks just like this one and there was nothing wrong with it....only the fact that it's outdated. I asked DH if he would try to chop the sides and back off and just glue the top on....guess what...it worked!! I still want to paint it black but we decided to wait a few years since the wood grain still looks good. The cost - ZERO....yep ....no $300 bucks ...no hauling to the trash....ZERO....LOVE that number! Here's a few pix's of the redo:

DH getting rid of the sides...then we glued the old top onto where the TV sits for added support...just used Elmer's glue all.

All done! SOOOOO much better! Eventually it'll be mat black...but not yet....I think it still looks good! Look around before you buy new to see if you can revamp your old- FREE!

Ball Jar Soap Dispenser

To make a ball jar soap dispenser you will need the following:

One small ball jar with lid and band
one old pump soap bottle


To make. Take the pump off your old soap bottle. Now cut out the part you screw the pump into with a little extra around the rim so you can hold it. This becomes how you attach it to your ball jar lid. Next punch a hole into the ball jar lid just slightly smaller than the pump screw hold piece. This part was kinda hard so hubby helped me with a hole punch and some metal snips. Attach pump to lid....secure underneath with plastic piece. You can glue it if you need to, or use a rubber o ring to snug it all up. Fill with liquid soap and enjoy! You can paint the whole lid any color you like with spray paint to match your decor. I left mine natural because the rusty color went well with my kitchen. These things are pricey in the Gooseberry Patch catalog...around $24.00!!! :O



If you want even more ball jar cuteness for your kitchen check out how to make ball jar salt and pepper shakers here:

Ball jar salt and pepper shakers

Roses and Cupcakes

My youngest son had his 11th birthday on the 2nd of June! Not many more years left and he'll be a MAN! That can make my head spin when I sit back and think about it!! He wanted a marble cake so we made that. It's very easy. One yellow cake mix ....one chocolate cake mix. Make both according to directions. Then divide the yellow cake into 2 9x13 pans. Plop the chocolate batter in mounds around the top of the yellow then swirl gently with a knife. You could do this with any batter combos that would look pretty.....I'm thinking I might like a white cake marbled with strawberry just cuz I love pink so much! But any way....you'll have some chocolate batter left over. So we decided to make cupcakes with that....only I couldn't find the muffin pan. Probably one of my 3 boys drug it off to play some imaginative game with?? Or more likely it just got put away in the wrong spot!!! So here's a quick tip. You can just bake your cupcakes in their liners on any old pan. Admittedly....the tin foil ones held their shape better and the paper cups were a bit wonky but not that bad! So in case of emergencies or if you need tons of cupcakes...don't run out and spend $$$$$ on extra pans. I bet if you did say a whole cookie sheets' worth and lined them up a little closer they would give support to each other and look just perfect~
My one and only rose bush bloomed....we have about 12 roses this time...YAY! I know nothing about roses...but plan to get a book one day soon from the library. In the fall I just clip it back and it seems to give us a few beautiful roses each spring.

~Moxie